"Are you kidding me?!" A sudden shout rang out. Hiashi's heart sank—too late to stop it—just as a Main House shinobi ground out through clenched teeth, "So using the Caged Bird curse mark on the Branch counts as committing evil? Who made that rule? You, Uchiha Keizumi?"
"If that's the case, won't at least eighty to ninety percent of the entire Main House end up in prison? Then who will carry on the Hyūga bloodline? Do you want our pure Byakugan lineage to die out?"
"It's your kind of extreme justice that's evil! You don't care what the majority of us think—you only care about your own so-called selfish justice. You're the minority here!"
Hiashi was drenched in sweat.
He could tell the voice belonged to a young Main House shinobi. Within the Hyūga Main House he counted as a prodigy—only nineteen and already a Konoha jōnin—so of course he carried the arrogance of a young Main House prodigy.
The problem was—
—he clearly didn't know when to rein that pride in and when to let it show.
"You… have no right to call yourself the 'majority' of the Hyūga!"
The speaker was Hyūga Neji. Young as he was, he clenched his jaw and fixed his gaze on the Main House prodigy. "Look around you! Look at this so-called Main House and so-called Branch—who actually has more people? Which side is the real majority?"
"They've kept quiet only because they fear you'll trigger the Caged Bird mark on them! They've just spent years under your heel, ground into a hidebound inertia of thought."
"That doesn't mean they stand with your Main House! In the Hyūga clan, the Branch has been the majority from the start—there are hundreds of them. Do all of you in the Main House even add up to forty?"
"You just can't bear to give up Main House privilege! Or rather, you're afraid that once the Branch is free of the Caged Bird, countless people's talent will surpass yours and grind that 'prodigy' title you're so proud of underfoot!"
Neji had realized that today was the only chance to win justice for his father—and the only chance with even a sliver of breaking the cage.
He could not let it pass.
He would not let the Main House muddle through it.
"You—" Veins throbbed across the nineteen-year-old Main House jōnin's forehead after Neji's barrage. Suddenly he raised a hand and formed a seal—one that made Neji's pupils contract.
Neji recognized that seal—
—years ago, Hyūga Hiashi had formed that very sign, and the Caged Bird on Neji's father's brow had been triggered.
"Stop!!!"
Hiashi's face changed. He wheeled around, aiming to slap the forming seal aside with a single palm.
He hadn't expected—
—someone even faster.
[Swish—]
No one saw how Uchiha Keizumi drew his blade.
They hadn't even seen when he used the Body Flicker Technique.
At most they caught a fleeting afterimage.
Then a flicker of steel.
An arm spun skyward.
Blood sprayed.
"Hyūga Horiao—remand to Konoha Prison. Twenty years." The voice, utterly cold, finally snapped everyone back to themselves.
…
At the same time—
Hokage Building.
A ninja hound came barreling in—Kakashi's ninken, Pakkun—and trotted straight into the Hokage's office.
"Hm?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen arched a brow at the sight of a dog slipping in. Recognizing Pakkun, he understood why the nearby ANBU hadn't stopped it.
"Hokage-sama, Kakashi sent me to tell you—the Hyūga clan is in trouble."
Pakkun's blunt report made Hiruzen pause.
"The Hyūga…"
His aged features grew a shade more solemn. After exchanging a glance with Mitokado Homura, he turned back to Pakkun and asked, "Is it because of Keizumi? What happened in Hyūga?"
"No idea." Pakkun drooped his eyelids and shook his head. "Kakashi only told me to come and report it."
He hesitated, then added, "When I was summoned, I caught a heavy scent of blood at the Hyūga compound."
Uneasy with the drawn-blades tension at the Hyūga estate, Kakashi had sent Pakkun to fetch the Hokage.
"The smell of blood…"
At this, Mitokado Homura said to Hiruzen, "Hiruzen, I fear that Hyūga Jinsuke, the Main House elder, hadn't yet managed to leave Konoha before Keizumi arrived and seized him."
"In Keizumi's eyes, triggering the Caged Bird and causing a Branch member's death makes him a murderer. And once a murderer falls into Keizumi's hands, there's only one outcome."
"Kakashi thinks the Hyūga are headed for trouble because Keizumi likely killed Hyūga Jinsuke—very possibly in front of many of the clan."
"Uchiha Keizumi favors one method—kill the chicken to warn the monkeys."
Given Hiruzen's own "Monkey" moniker, his expression turned a touch odd.
"Ahem."
He quickly cast off the idle thought and said in a low voice, "Kakashi is likely overthinking it. If Keizumi had sufficient grounds, then he executed Hyūga Jinsuke from the moral high ground. Hiashi is one of the few who understands reason—he's unlikely to clash with Keizumi."
"Even if a few hot-blooded youngsters in the Main House take issue with Keizumi's actions, Hiashi should hold them back."
Hiruzen decided there was no need to go.
He, too, felt it was time for the Hyūga to change.
The Hyūga's adherence to hidebound rules did, admittedly, put him at ease as Hokage; he never had to worry they might covet the upper echelons of power in Konohagakure.
The problem was—
—those same hidebound rules had left the Hyūga's overall strength unable to even begin to match the Uchiha at their peak.
Konohagakure had already lost far too many shinobi. Sarutobi Hiruzen needed a clan to step up and fill the gap—preferably one that would heed the village. The Hyūga, plainly, fit his requirements.
'This time… this old man is making use of Keizumi as well.'
The thought flickered through Hiruzen's mind.
Just then, Pakkun added, "The blood I smelled wasn't from only one person. It was at least two or three."
Hiruzen froze.
Two or three…
"Hiruzen, something's not right," Mitokado Homura said, brow furrowing. "Keizumi isn't… overcorrecting within the Hyūga, is he? It wouldn't be the first time."
Hiruzen drew in a deep breath.
"Homura, I'm assigning you five ANBU squads. Go."
Five ANBU squads…
Homura's heart tightened. That was preparation for a possible clash—with Keizumi or the Hyūga, either one.
"Understood."
He nodded.
…
On the other side of the shinobi world—
Land of Rain.
"Several Ame shinobi in Konohagakure have sent word—Biwa Jūzō left them without a word and departed the village alone."
Konan took a long breath, the downpour drumming above; overhead, sheets of white paper kept the rain off her.
From her vantage, she looked out over the rain-soaked Amegakure.
She glanced aside and said to Nagato, seated in his wheelchair, "Biwa Jūzō should have gotten the intel I wanted. He should be on his way back right now."
Nagato lifted his gaze to meet hers. "What makes you so sure?"
"Because he didn't use a remote communicator in Konohagakure to contact Amegakure," Konan explained. "It means he's worried that anything he says over a device could be overheard.
"And if it were overheard, the only outcome is death—because there are people who don't want him to know this secret intel, and even less want Biwa Jūzō to pass it on to me.
"The only way he can deliver it is to return in person."
Nagato nodded, thoughtful. "Cautious indeed."
"But I still have a question."
He paused, then asked, "If you confirm that 'Uchiha Madara' is indeed deeply suspect, what do you intend to do?"
Before Konan could answer, Nagato added, expressionless, "I support the plan he once proposed to us. Whatever you do, you must not disrupt that plan."
Konan fell silent for a few seconds.
"I only want to strip away that aura—at once mysterious and dangerous—around him," she said. "That way, the moment he shows anything unusual, we'll have the means to counter him immediately."
She added, "All without undermining that plan."
Then Konan shifted the topic. "Recently, we successfully stirred up a border clash between the Land of Birds and the Land of Bears. On both sides, over a hundred samurai were killed or wounded, and several shinobi died as well. For small countries, that's an unacceptable loss."
"Akatsuki can use this to sell our 'war contracting mechanism' to both nations—let them hire us to wage their war. We can place personnel on each side, stage a performance, and extract a hefty sum from their daimyō."
"After all, collecting the Tailed Beasts is a massive undertaking. We'll need to bring in many powerful new members, and the costs will be enormous."
"I'll leave it to you," Nagato nodded. "You're better at this than I am."
"Right."
Nagato suddenly said, "List the formidable enemies we'll face when we move to collect each Tailed Beast. Write out their names, scout their intel in advance, and prepare early."
"For example—"
"If we aim to take the Nine-Tails someday, we'll have to clash with that man called Uchiha Keizumi. He's no simple shinobi—we should keep an eye on him."
"Even Uchiha Madara is that wary of him. That means he may become one of our greatest foes in the future."
Konan nodded. "Understood."
…
Inside the Hyūga compound—
With a plop, a severed arm hit the ground. Keizumi's icy words fell, and a scream followed—so raw it made their skin crawl.
Under countless Hyūga eyes, the Main House prodigy who had lost an arm clutched at the stump and stumbled backward in panic.
Cold sweat streamed down his face, twisted with horror. He stared at Uchiha Keizumi in disbelief.
"You—"
But Uchiha Keizumi had already dismissed him. That bone-chilling, indifferent voice sounded again: "Hyūga Sakasai—on multiple occasions used the Caged Bird curse mark on Branch members without any violation of core principles. Imprisonment: 10 years."
At that, a Main House shinobi's face went abruptly ashen.
Even Hyūga Hiashi couldn't help looking over—
—because that man was the Main House bodyguard to the Hyūga clan head.
"Hyūga Katsuno: 5 years."
"Hyūga Hitomi: 7 months."
"Hyūga Shakusoku: 9 years."
"Hyūga—"
Name after name rolled from Uchiha Keizumi's tongue. With each one, a Main House shinobi either blanched or swallowed hard and hastily backed away.
Hyūga Hiashi was a little dazed—at this rate, Keizumi would end up naming almost the entire Hyūga Main House.
If the Main House shinobi truly followed Uchiha Keizumi's decree and went off to Konoha Prison—some for months, some for years, some for decades—
—then when those Main House shinobi finally returned, who would be calling the shots in the Hyūga?
The Branch would likely have replaced the Main House. Or rather—
—there might no longer be any "Main vs. Branch" at all.
Because after this, the Main House would have fallen from the heavens straight into the mud.
"Hyūga Naru." When Uchiha Keizumi read that name, his gaze settled on the Main House elder whose face looked particularly sour. "Imprisonment: twenty years."
The elder's mind went off with a bang.
Outrageous…
Outrageous!
This Uchiha whelp really meant to rely on brute strength and run wild in the Hyūga! Stubborn and high-handed—just like their ancestor, Uchiha Madara!
Uchiha shinobi—truly a clan of lunatics!
And this Uchiha Keizumi—mad among the mad!
"Enough! Uchiha Keizumi!!!"
"You've gone too far!"
The elder named Hyūga Naru could no longer hold his temper. His old face had flushed scarlet with rage, and the peachwood cane in his hand hammered the floor again and again.
"The Hyūga are not the Uchiha! You may throw your weight around among the Uchiha, but here you're an outsider! You call it 'justice for the Branch' and barge in to meddle in our clan—if your unreasonable justice leaves the Hyūga worse than before, will you bear that responsibility!?"
"Are you going to throw the entire Main House into Konoha Prison now? Do you have any idea how much chaos that would cause for the Hyūga—no, for all of Konoha!?"
"You… you—"
The rest of Hyūga Naru's words stuck in his throat—
—because a blood-streaked ninja blade was already at his neck.
Its keen edge had nicked the skin at his throat.
"Those who defy justice,"
"—are to be cut down."
Uchiha Keizumi said coldly, "If that triggers greater chaos, it only proves justice's deterrence isn't yet absolute—and that not enough evildoers in the Hyūga have been slain."
Hyūga Naru's mouth worked soundlessly—
—until a voice rang out like a savior for the Main House.
"Keizumi, wait!"
Mitokado Homura arrived at last—with five ANBU squads in tow.
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